Shrewsbury man gets 8-plus years for sex with minor

Conrad Gallant in a surveillance photo taken in the Dominican Republic

WORCESTER — A Shrewsbury man was sentenced to 100 months in prison in U.S. District Court Thursday for having sex with a minor in the Dominican Republic.

Conrad Emile Gallant, 63, formerly of 112 Lakeside Drive, Shrewsbury, has been in federal custody since his arrest in the Caribbean country in early March 2012.

He was charged with having a sexual relationship with a minor between February 2011 and February 2012, beginning when the girl was 14. In April, Mr. Gallant pleaded guilty to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

Judge Timothy Hillman imposed a sentence of 100 months in prison for each of the two counts, to run concurrently. He will be given credit for the 16 months he has served awaiting disposition of his case. After prison, Mr. Gallant will be on 10 years of supervised release and he must register as a sex offender.

While on probation, he will be prohibited from possessing or using a computer or other Internet-accessible devices without approval of his probation officer. He will also be prohibited from accessing sex-related telephone sites and having contact with children younger than 18 unless in the presence of an adult approved by authorities.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Dawson Belf had asked for the maximum 160 months to help put an end to the child sex tourism crisis. She said a computer confiscated after Mr. Gallant's arrest showed images of all the Dominican Republican girls he had been targeting since 2007.

In addition to the 14-year-old victim, Mr. Gallant also had sexual relations with three other minor girls, including the victim's sister, Ms. Belf said.

She said that when he was arrested, authorities confiscated a suitcase in his apartment that contained a pair of boxer shorts, penile enlargement pills, generic Viagra and heart medication. She said Mr. Gallant also had hundreds of images of child pornography and child erotica.

"Mr. Gallant is a predator, plain and simple," Ms. Belf said. "He knew exactly how old this little girl was. He found out within days of meeting her."

Ms. Belf told Judge Hillman that Mr. Gallant was not charged with possession of child pornography because by the time it was discovered through extensive forensic work, he had agreed to plead guilty to the other charges.

Mr. Gallant's lawyer, John T. Martin of Framingham, said a long sentence would probably result in Mr. Gallant dying in prison because he has suffered several heart attacks. He said his client had never been in trouble with the law before and had cooperated with authorities.

"He was in the Dominican Republic engaging in the lawful practice of prostitution. He got caught up in something that was legal. But he is not a monster or a predator," Mr. Martin said.

He said he met the 14-year-old girl in a bar working as a prostitute.

Authorities said Mr. Gallant brought the teen to his apartment to engage in sexual intercourse with him and the girl's adult aunt, with whom he was already sexually involved.

He threw the aunt out after learning that she was stealing from him and he continued his sexual relations with the teen. Mr. Martin said the relationship was consensual and with her family's knowledge. He said that several times the girl, her mother, aunt and several of her seven siblings visited Mr. Gallant.

Ms. Belf, the assistant U.S. attorney, said Mr. Gallant had promised the girl a motor scooter, a camera and approximately $600 for her to take her mother to a doctor, but he failed to follow through on his promises. Several days later, the girl took Mr. Gallant's debit card and took the $600. She later turned herself in to police on the advice of a family friend, Ms. Belf said. That's when she allegedly told authorities about her relationship with Mr. Gallant.

The girl, who was in the sixth grade when she met Mr. Gallant, dropped out of school to be available to him, said Ms. Belf. She recently was admitted to a medical facility to be treated for substance abuse.

When questioned by Judge Hillman, Ms. Belf said there was never any evidence that the girl and Mr. Gallant had been involved with drugs.

In an impact statement, the girl said what happened torments her and she does not want others to go through what she did.

"Sometimes I can't sleep well thinking about this and (I) don't feel like a normal person ... I am embarrassed in front of others who know what happened to me."

The girl's mother also provided authorities with an impact statement. In it she said her daughter is still traumatized. She said that once when she went to Mr. Gallant's apartment to try to get her daughter to come home, Mr. Gallant kicked her out.

In court, Mr. Gallant, a former Winchendon Board of Health member and candidate for selectman, dressed in federal prison garb, appeared frail. He often sat with an elbow on the table before him with his forehead resting in his hand.

When asked by the judge if he wanted to address the court, he stood and said: "Yes, I did find out she was a minor and I should have left."